I can't believe it!!!!

[Whitewater]

my flowers cost LESS than my CAKE. How does this happen????? For crying out loud, it's a CAKE, not the Eiffel Tower!!!

And I'm not talking just a couple of bucks more, I'm talking like, for this kind of money (had my flowers been this expensive) we would have been able to have fresh ORCHIDS for the entire bridal party.

And get this, this woman is an independent business person in my town and she is the LEAST EXPENSIVE person I've found that I want to do my cake. She has the flavors we want (although she calls them 'special' flavors and charges an extra 60 cents a slice for them) -- one of which NOBODY else has, is it too hard to get Lemon Rasberry???

The other comprable bakers charged $5-$6/slice for what we wanted and she's only (only, HAH) charging us $3.35. Not including a $45 set-up and delivery fee. At first I thought that $3.35 would be a reasonable compromise between making my cake myself and having to sell my soul to the devil. But now I'm not so sure.

Anyway. This is beginning to sound like it ought to be in the vents section but it's not really a vent, it's just that I'm so surprised by this. Taken aback, more like.

How is it possible for a CAKE to cost more than my flowers????? I just don't understand this.


Whitewater (surely the florists spend just as much time putting together finicky little corsages and so on as the cake decorators do decorating . . . )

[snowflakebride]

Whitewater, I dedicate this to you. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimiDBAK2wA

[Whitewater]

ROTFLMAO!!!!

I am SO totally that guy. No, really. Except that I would have stood my ground and insisted on the cheaper one -- the shop girl was caving, you could see it!!!

WHY is it that the *second* you mention the W word everything suddenly triples in price? is it because the vendors are used to Mum and Dad pulling out their wallets with nary a whimper to indulge their darling daughter on 'her special day'???? Maybe I'm a cynical B*** but let's face it, your special day isn't special enough to be TRIPLY overcharged for it!!!

What, after all, am I paying for anyway? The privelege to walk down a massively long aisle before my friends and family, hoping to God I don't trip and show my undies to the world?

The chance to eat a wedding cake slice that's so thin you couldn't even use it as sunblock????

Fresh flowers that will attract every single pollinating and stinging insect for MILES around????

COME ON PEOPLE. The best way you can show some respect to the bride and the bride's family on 'her special day' is to cut them some financial slack!!!!! Oh yeah, and not bare-facedly having the gall to charge three times more than you would normally. We're on to that trick!!! And we demand fair pricing!

It's my own pet economic theory. If you cut your price, you'll sell more. Like, if you sell 100 $200 wedding cakes instead of 10 $1000 ones. Less price means you move more product, which in turn makes you MORE profit, not less. Am I the only one to think about this?

Yeah, this really should be moved into another catagory because I'm about to say it:

I am SO FRUSTRATED with the wedding industry right now, trying to gouge us out of every single penny we have and then some. All I want is some *really good cake*. And a decent party and a nice respectful religious ceremony to put the Godly Stamp of Approval on our legal union.

And to do this i have to spend the equivalent of 4 months worth of house payments and start planning a year in advance.

Crazy!!!!

Oh -- and I just got another email saying 'well, the cakes in your inspiration pictures are rolled fondant' and she went on to say that she'd put fondant on over the buttercream . . . . and I was thinking to myself, that better be one HELL of a fondant recipe you've got because I've tasted all of them . . . I've MADE fondant . . . and it *always* comes out tasting like gritty, sweet wallpaper glue. The thick stuff. "I make it myself" she says. "It doesn't taste like commercial stuff". Well, honey, I've made my own fondant too and if you can get it to NOT taste like sugary, gritty caulking, you'll be a frigging miracle worker. I'll believe it when I taste it.

Not to mention my immediate thought was 'Dolt. These are INSPIRATION pictures. I don't want an exact replica!' Whatever.

Oh, and the last quote she gave us went down quite considerably . . . now it's only $5 more than the flowers.

*sigh*


Whitewater (It's a party. Just a party. Nothing special. No, really. A wedding? God bless me, no, nothing like that at all.)

[mitch]

Oh Whitewater You have made My day Girl. :D

I totally know where You are going with the prices of things. But the way you have expressed Yourself here has me in stitches. :rofl:

That bit about selling Your Soul to the Devil is the sort of thing i would come out with.
And as for the less is more. I'm all for the "Stack It High, Sell It Cheap" option. No wonder so many people go bust within the first Year.

May Your cake maker be a miracle worker and it taste better than Fresh Orchids :rofl:

[mj512]

An independant cake woman is charging per slice? Ours just changed a base fee bases upon it being 3 tier square yada yada. Ours fed well at least 150 because that was how many was there, plus there were left overs, so probably over 200 people, which at 3.35 a slice would have been $670. Ours was only $425 for this:
http://photos-260.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v71/154/58/69600260/n69600260_30673644_1360.jpg

Is there someone reasonable within driving distance?

[Ninedays9]

That is crazy. I was going to see if I could have my aunt do ours, either for a gift or for a low price... but she did my two cousins' cakes, and they turned out dry with the summer heat. Mine will be even more in the heat than theirs was... so I'm thinking no on that. So it's back to square one on the cake for us.

It really is not cool that people charge way more when the word "wedding" is involved. It's kinda like my senior pictures for high school... when I called to set up the appointment, they thought I was my sister, who had already had her senior pictures done with them. So they just set me up with a regular appointment. I got excellent pictures for a lower price.

[Scrwballsgrl]

An independant cake woman is charging per slice? Ours just changed a base fee bases upon it being 3 tier square yada yada. Ours fed well at least 150 because that was how many was there, plus there were left overs, so probably over 200 people, which at 3.35 a slice would have been $670. Ours was only $425 for this:
http://photos-260.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v71/154/58/69600260/n69600260_30673644_1360.jpg

Is there someone reasonable within driving distance?
wow! that is a beautiful cake!

[Cassie'smom]

My daughter ended up going the cupcake and cake way for her wedding cake. The grooms sisterinlaw made everything and it was wonderful. The cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla and easy to put in a ziplock bag for people to take home. The cake was vanilla with rasberry filling and just what the groom wanted.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2867224163_2d6436b9eb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whentermoon/2867224163/)

[dylansmom011908]

AGREED......I mean really...need I say more?? lol

I could pay my car off with the $ i'm spending for ONE day...and most of the stuff i'm paying for isnt' even really for me or FH anyways..... ugh.... venders... can't love em..but can't kill them either! :snide: :D

[Whitewater]

Jacklynn, everybody around here is an independent baker. The only places that do wedding cakes that aren't are a small local chain called Byerly's, Target, and Walmart. I'm boycotting Walmart so they're out, Byerly's charges $7/slice, and Target cakes are too small and too 1970's.

So independent bakers are kind of the only other option. And this woman *is* within driving distance. I live in the Twin Cities, which is where the majority of Minnesota's population lives, and therefore most of the cake bakers are here too. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons we put this baker on our short list was because she wasn't too far away, unlike some of the others. Maybe a 20 minute drive? Not far at all.

Despite all my frustration and irritation about the cost of a CAKE (which really, I've watched the Food Network, I *know* what goes into these things, but trust me, this woman ain't no Chef Duff . . . and she'd get her hat handed to her in a cake decorating challenge), we're probably going to get a contract with this baker because she IS the lowest priced alternative who is also within a decent driving distance and has the flavors we want, which nobody else has. We're over the barrel, but there's really no way around it.

I comfort myself with the knowledge that going *under* budget in other areas means that we have the extra money to spend for this dang cake. So it probably won't disturb the financial waters all that much, but the irritation of charging more for a 'wedding' cake as opposed to a regular cake still rankles.


Whitewater

[snowflakebride]

So sorry you have to deal with that. It really is rediculous. I decided a long time ago that I want to have a wedding company, which would include location, cake, dj, blah blah blah, for a reasonable rate to get some of these vendors off their high horses.

However, I doubt my social work degree would help me get going on that. :snide:

[RozMitchell]

WHY is it that the *second* you mention the W word everything suddenly triples in price?


Actually the reason vendors charge so much for weddings is evidenced all over this forum - it can't be wrong. It simply can't.

And that kind of pressure doesn't come cheap.


That said, that cake better have solid gold fondant!

Roz

[azgirl]

You said you live in MN? I got married in the Twin Cities and grew up there; our cake is around $2.75-3/slice and it was amazing! I actually didn't see any cake prices that were over $5/slice. The bakery I went with is called Grandma's Bakery and it is in White Bear Lake. They made the filling we wanted just for us, even though they had never made the filling before, and we didn't get charged extra for it. Because our reception is within a certain mileage of where they are located we got delivery for free. We also looked at Woulett's and Buttercream and both were in roughly the same price range. I would recommend checking out those three places because their prices were definitely reasonable. For a cake for 150 people we are spending about $375, which is way under our budget.

[mj512]

Jacklynn, everybody around here is an independent baker. The only places that do wedding cakes that aren't are a small local chain called Byerly's, Target, and Walmart. I'm boycotting Walmart so they're out, Byerly's charges $7/slice, and Target cakes are too small and too 1970's.

So independent bakers are kind of the only other option. And this woman *is* within driving distance. I live in the Twin Cities, which is where the majority of Minnesota's population lives, and therefore most of the cake bakers are here too. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons we put this baker on our short list was because she wasn't too far away, unlike some of the others. Maybe a 20 minute drive? Not far at all.

Despite all my frustration and irritation about the cost of a CAKE (which really, I've watched the Food Network, I *know* what goes into these things, but trust me, this woman ain't no Chef Duff . . . and she'd get her hat handed to her in a cake decorating challenge), we're probably going to get a contract with this baker because she IS the lowest priced alternative who is also within a decent driving distance and has the flavors we want, which nobody else has. We're over the barrel, but there's really no way around it.

I comfort myself with the knowledge that going *under* budget in other areas means that we have the extra money to spend for this dang cake. So it probably won't disturb the financial waters all that much, but the irritation of charging more for a 'wedding' cake as opposed to a regular cake still rankles.


Whitewater

It is a pain when the jump the price just because you put the word wedding into it isn't it?!

I just wasn't sure if there was a baker a little further away that cost less and would be worth the drive. Like in IL if you are getting married in Chicago the price of a cake IN Chicago would be way more than if you bought it in a suburb and drove it in. Isn't it frustrating when you don't have many options, therefore you get charged more?! I hate that.

And those Food Network shows my goodness, have you seen Ace of Cakes? I love that show, we went to their website and their minimum cake order is $1000, for food! Granted I know they spend countless hours on them and they look amazing, it is just hard to spend that kind of money on something that will be destroyed.

[Whitewater]

Actually the reason vendors charge so much for weddings is evidenced all over this forum - it can't be wrong. It simply can't.

Oohhhhhh, yes, it can. Believe you me. I'm doing EVERYTHING 'wrong'. Happily, tackily, deliberately wrong. Mostly because I had it right the first time and look what happened? But occasionally, I'm doing things 'wrong' SPECIFICALLY *because* it's 'wrong'. Did I ever happen to mention my contrary streak? Well, yeah. Contrary streak -- I has it.

And that kind of pressure doesn't come cheap.

Unless you happen to be a counter-culture **** who is more than strong enough to go against the grain. *muahahahahaha*

I often delight in resisting peer pressure. It's fun to see the norm's heads explode from the cognitive dissonance of, say, seeing a 34 year old woman playing dress-up and Let's Pretend. You know the question I get most often when I'm doing my historic re-enactment stuff? "Why would you ever want to do this?" And they don't believe me when I say "Because it's fun". They're sure I have some kind of ulterior motive.

Anyway, the 'proper' wedding cake is white on white with white filling and 4 tiers . . . .and only round if it's an informal wedding, otherwise you *have* to have square shapes. Ours isn't going to be like that. Not at all. We're having color and 3 different flavors and non-traditionally shaped (neither square nor round!) pan sizes.

Let the traditionalists have a collective heart attack. But don't tell me that you're charging me the same as you would for a formal, traditional wedding cake, either!


That said, that cake better have solid gold fondant!

Roz

Yeah. The reason it sticks so much is because this woman is charging $125 for a two tiered ivory cake with scrollwork and calling it a 'Fancy Anniversary Cake'. Add one more tier and a bit more scrollwork and you get our wedding cake. A single tier is $240 more? PUH-LEASE.

I happen to like cake. However, due to health issues my wedding cake will be the only cake that crosses my lips in at least a year. So why not get good cake, if it's the only time in the next 12-18 months that I'm going to get any?


Whitewater (hoping that the cake isn't actually a lie . . .she's now being sticky about the fact that we can only make it Tues/Wed or Saturday for a tasting. Gee, I'm sorry that the three jobs between the two of us make it hard to fit us in YOUR schedule . . . why don't we just drop a job or two so that we can attend your tastings to your specific time???? I dunno.)

[Ninedays9]

Yikes, this makes me a little afraid of trying to find a cake baker in the Twin Cities area. I may actually become a message board traitor and post on another message board that's geared towards brides in Minnesota. I did that for finding out places to have our reception and got a lot of good responses... though I like these boards a lot better, overall.

But anyway, that's good that you were able to go lower with the other things in your budget to be able to afford the cake.

[WebLady]

Just to be fair to the "good vendors"; they are not all just out to take you for all you've got. Sure, there are some that seem to raise prices on things when the "W" word comes up, but it is not fair to say that they are all like that.

There are tons of vendors out there, so there is something for everyone if you look hard enough. If you are a smart consumer and know what you want and do your research you should be able to find what you want (or close to it) for the price you want to pay.

However; what many brides don't realize is weddings in general do take more work than you might think. Plus skill and experience will usually cost you more no matter the industry ;)

[Nekochanpurr]

Omg, its so true... I went through most of my planning trying not to say the W word, because you KNOW the price will jump! >.<

[Whitewater]

WebLady is right, every single other vendor we're working with has been fair and square on the prices. It's just *this* one and it's driving me nuts.

However, we came to a compromise on a time for the tasting, she assures me her fondant tastes like marshmallows and not like ickily sweet wet concrete and she's finally gotten a little bit more reasonable on her costs. Fondant and 3 separate specialty flavors with buttercream to anchor the fondant, with three tiers and scrollwork that will look like my inspiration pic. . . for $366 and some change. That is a reasonable price, I think, particularly considering this cake -- my inspiration --:

http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/41725/2680625860058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Sorry about the funky angle -- that's original to the shot! This cake is four tiers and ours will only be three, and no flowers. Well. There may well be roses for the cake topper but I'm planning on doing that myself. And it's not going to be brown, either. Our cake serves 122 people. So $366 and some change for 3 tiers and 122 servings. That's a heck of a lot better than what she originally quoted us! I can live with this price.

That plus a $45 delivery and set up fee . . . . still not too bad.

NineDays, I *did* find a person on Craigslist a while back who was just starting out and was charging either $1.25 or $1.50/slice for her cakes. They looked nice and she had a couple flavors we liked . . . and we would have done a cake tasting with her too but her website was eaten when my PC died (I had her in My Favorites but the Geeks could only get SOME of my bookmarks back) and I haven't been able to find her again. And no, I can't remember either her name or the website's name :( The only hope is if she posts on Craigslist again!

Thing is, 3.35/slice IS reasonable in the Cities. *sigh*. It's actually about avarage, now that I've gone and re-done all the research I did when originally looking for a baker.

If Cakes by Barb *is* truly awesome though, and her cake is out of this world, I'll definitely give you the website.


Whitewater (hoping for a tasting this month still, sometime)

[WebLady]

Some of the bakers I used to work with out here were $3.50-$4.50 per slice depending on design and all.

Just imagine if you were to get a cake from that Ace Of Cakes dude; in real like his shop is called Charm City Cakes. His cakes START at $1000; but they are more than a cake. Not that I'd pay it, but I can see why it is so expensive.

[SerendipityCrafts]

Just imagine if you were to get a cake from that Ace Of Cakes dude; in real like his shop is called Charm City Cakes. His cakes START at $1000; but they are more than a cake. Not that I'd pay it, but I can see why it is so expensive.

Mind you there is always the old adage - You get what you pay for. Our cake lady was inexpensive .... and the reason was perfectly clear when we saw the results :snide: LOL

I am not saying that it's quick or easy to whip beautiful bouquets and arrangements together but, the amount of time and skill that goes into making a "perfect" cake, is unbelievable. Some cakes are truly a work of art! :)

Whitewater - your inspiration cake is beautiful!

[mj512]

Just imagine if you were to get a cake from that Ace Of Cakes dude; in real like his shop is called Charm City Cakes. His cakes START at $1000; but they are more than a cake. Not that I'd pay it, but I can see why it is so expensive.

We are thinking WAY too much alike tonight Brandi!

And those Food Network shows my goodness, have you seen Ace of Cakes? I love that show, we went to their website and their minimum cake order is $1000, for food! Granted I know they spend countless hours on them and they look amazing, it is just hard to spend that kind of money on something that will be destroyed.

[Whitewater]

Chef Duff can do no wrong and I will hear no word against him :) Before (or really, just barely after, I guess) he got onto the Food Network I checked out his website. Prices were reasonable then for the amount of work he put into them, I think that a 2 tier wedding cake was $495 to start.

Now his waiting list is up to two years, depending on what you want, and I suspect, like the armorer in the Princess Bride (in the book), that he's doubled and tripled his prices to try to stem the 'You're Trendy' tide. After all, there are still only 7 days in the week! LOL! and you can only make so many cakes.

In the beginning, for a lark I thought about having a cake by Duff. But then I realized that I'd have to drive to Baltimore and back, with a cake that's worth more (now) than our house payment, and thought better of it!

But if we ever move to within a train ride of Baltimore . . . .


Whitewater

[vicky_vicky]

Whitewater, I dedicate this to you. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimiDBAK2wA


This video is hilarious!


@Whitewater
I seriously believe that 3.35 per slice is very expensive. I cant even imagine paying for cake prices like 6 or 7 $ per slice.
Have you ever thought about making your own cake? There are many bakeries selling ready marzipan to cover your cake or royal icing. Also many many decorating candies.
Think about it.

[Whitewater]

I thought about trying to make my own cake, yes. No, seriously! And even though I'd been a bride before and knew better :)

I know what those last 48 hours are like before a wedding, and there was NO WAY I'd be able to make a cake, ice it and decorate it. Nor would there be time to get the cake from my house to the reception site.

I'm going to be doing a TON of DIY. Everything from invitations to programs to chocolates as favors -- and a lot of the DIY is fairly last minute. Then, having done this before, I *know* there will be last minute emergencies, dress fittings, people panicking (and since I'm trained to keep a cool head in a crisis, who will be talking all these crazy people down? Moi, that's who!), stuff being forgotten, and all the little logistics that I would give anything to be able to hire a wedding planner for.

There's just no room in the schedule for cake. I'm even starting to wonder about my sanity when it comes to making 300 chocolate favors.

It's like my flowers. If I'd gone wholesale and bought them online and then made them myself, sure, I would have saved some money BUT I would have had to put them all together the night before and frankly I just didn't want to deal with all that stress and hassle.

So basically, what I'm paying for is the convenience of *not* having to do it myself. And I'm ok with that!

(Besides, I'm ok at pastry and cookies and breads, but for some reason my cakes always come out dry and they fall apart. If *I* made a wedding cake it would look like a wedding cake at a zombie wedding, like it had already died and then come back to life)


Whitewater

[vicky_vicky]

(Besides, I'm ok at pastry and cookies and breads, but for some reason my cakes always come out dry and they fall apart. If *I* made a wedding cake it would look like a wedding cake at a zombie wedding, like it had already died and then come back to life)


Whitewater


That is funny!

I so totally undrestand that you wont have time to do it on your own. Especially since you have all the DIY!

[f77g4]

After reading this I am so glad that I my wedding is in a small town! They don't charge by the slice here - thank god! Our cake is only costing $100 and that includes delivery and is a large enough cake for close to 200 people!

[Kay]

That video was freaking HILARIOUS!! :jphappy:


Whitewater, I LOVE your cake.. your inspiration pic looks sorta like mine except mine is lavender & white - and the scroll-design is a bit different. I think I am going to steal your pic tho, and use it as my "second" inspiration pic. Hope you don't mind. :bbredface:

Btw, I also live in a small town and there is NO bakery here.. I either have to go at least an hour away (and I'm scared to even get prices), or find someone who makes them on the side (my hope), or just use good ol' Wal-Mart... which I would actually resort to doing if need be. :bun:

My cake budget is $250 and I'm NOT going over on it... of course, I say that... and that is one of the TOP 3 things on my list/my budget that is THE MOST important to me... I want our Save-the-Dates to maybe say "Save The Date For Cake!" :D

[octoberbride09]

Whitewater, I dedicate this to you. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimiDBAK2wA


Oh my god I laughed soo hard when I watched this...FH was like "what in the world are you watching!!". very cute!!!

[Whitewater]

Well, we finally have a date for our tasting -- Sept. 30th at 6pm.

I'll report back on the results!!!


Whitewater

[garnet]

the whole cake thing is an ordeal here too. Mr is so picky......he only likes carrot cake, orange or lemon cake, and a caramel cake I found at Kroger. I was orgionally thinking of putting out several flavors of cheesecakes, but the Mr hates cream cheese. So back to square one. He likes walmart cake, I don't like their icing. I only like caramel or buttercream. I hate fondant. So I'm thinking I'll get him the caramel cake for a grooms cake and of course he wants butter pecan ice cream ( the only wedding ever with ice cream) and for the actual wedding cake.........I dunno.

[Kay]

Just curious.. what kind of prices did you get at Kroger??

There is a Kroger in the next town over... and my options are limited...

[Nekochanpurr]

What size cake are you looking at??? I don't know about Krogers in other areas.. But i know our bakery doesn't do actual wedding cakes..

[Kay]

I would want an "actual" wedding cake.... but thanks anyway!

[futurefuchsy]

I so know what you are talking about. Iam going through the same thing, but I am debating wether or not to do the cupcake thing,since we are having a "casual" reception. But Im thinking about doing the cupcakes my self along with the help of my cousin who just graduated from culinary school and wants to do this sort of thing. I asked her about doing my cake,thinking that she is very new( has only done one cake) but she is going to be more expensive ( 150 more) than a established baker in the area. So I told her that and she is now thinking about the price, because I told her family or not im not paying 500 for a cake. Has anyone here done the cupcake thing on their own? any other ideas?

[Kay]

Future...

Just a note... My FH's brother is getting married next weekend... FSIL is planning to make 100 cupcakes this weekend, freeze them, and then we are all supposed to help ice them the day of the wedding. My FMIL sorta thinks this is ridiculous. Frankly, there is soooooooooo much going-on that day.... it is going to be crazy.

WHY not just spend the VERY FEW dollars and order the cupcakes from Wal-Mart, or Costco or somewhere cheap??? That's A LOT cheaper than a cake... and still totally cute!! Just an idea...

[garnet]

our kroger doesn't make actual wedding cakes, but they do make tiered cakes. (looks the same to me) i don't know if you have one but cubs foods makes wedding cakes, with flavors(frosting, flavors for inside and fruit inside) and all. there's looked very nice and were reasonably priced.

[CtPryncess]

I showed this picture to FH and he luved the idea, as it looks elegant and
simple at the same time.

My daughter ended up going the cupcake and cake way for her wedding cake. The grooms sisterinlaw made everything and it was wonderful. The cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla and easy to put in a ziplock bag for people to take home. The cake was vanilla with rasberry filling and just what the groom wanted.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2867224163_2d6436b9eb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whentermoon/2867224163/)